


New Face, Same Eyes

by jasminefiregreen



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Silas (Vampire Diaries), BAMF Caroline Forbes, Can you tell?, Caroline Forbes gets the credit she deserves, Damon Salvatore being Damon Salvatore, Damon is a dick, F/M, I just learned how to tag, I love Damon, LET VAMPIRES BE INFERTILE, Light Angst, Nonsense, Protective Damon Salvatore, Reincarnation, Sassy Damon Salvatore, Sorry Not Sorry, There will be ZERO rapey/abusive acts, Work In Progress, and likely sexually assaulted, but he's so righteous and I couldn't help it, but shit like that is not happening in my fic, but when is he not, it's pretty angsty, little bit of crack, might be a bit of Saint Stefan bashing, or magic vampire babies, pretty much everything after Klaus's arch in VD is not happening, sporatic updates, took me ages to figure out to custom tag, which means no Caroline being a blood bag, which the writers just love to gloss over, you make the rules that say they can't have kiddos and then just ignore em
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:22:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasminefiregreen/pseuds/jasminefiregreen
Summary: Lee was tired. Tired of dying over and over again. Tired of facing the people she loved, the man she loved, and seeing no recognition in their eyes. She was getting really sick of it after a 100 years or so. And she'd be damned if anything was going to stop her from figuring out the mess that was her lives, her deaths. Even if Damon's plots and chaos were interesting.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Damon Salvatore/Original Character(s), Damon Salvatore/Original Female Character(s), Elena Gilbert/Stefan Salvatore
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	New Face, Same Eyes

There’s a moment in life when you realize that things have somehow gone awry. That previous plans had been waylaid and goals have been set aside. It wasn’t the first time her life has taken a turn, dying 5 times will do that to a girl, but this may have been one of the more annoying ones. She wasn’t supposed to be sitting in a small-town bar drinking bourbon and ignoring all the things that she needed to do. After leaving Mystic Falls at 18, Lee never intended on coming back. She wouldn’t say that she vowed to never return, that was a bit dramatic, even for her. But she never wanted to spend a second more there than she had to. Then Miranda and Grayson Gilbert drove themselves off a bridge. Dying and almost killing her sister at the same time. 

Lee swirled the bourbon in her glass, took a sip, and sighed. She never considered Miranda and Grayson her parents. They may have adopted her and tried to hide that fact, but they weren’t family in her mind. She had a family before. She’d been an orphan, an adored daughter, an older sister, a younger sister, and even a bloody heiress. After losing so many family members, over and over again, it was hard to get attached. Especially to people like them. 

People who believed that vampires were below humanity. Those who viewed them as pests that needed to be exterminated. Or worse in their case. Grayson viewed them as perfect for his experiments. He tortured them all in the name of science without a speck of guilt. And Miranda wasn’t a saint either. She knew exactly what he was doing in his little cabin. What he was teaching Lee as the ‘Gilbert Heir’. And she turned a blind eye to those horrors and focused on the only thing she cared about, portraying the Gilberts as a perfect family. No, she wasn’t sad at all when she found out about their deaths. A little disappointed that it wasn’t worse considering Grayson’s past deeds, but she wasn’t grieving over them.

But her siblings never knew that side of them. They knew the kind and loving parents that made sure they were safe and happy. They never saw Grayson standing over a crying vampire with a vervain coated scalpel. So, they were devastated by the loss. And Lee had accidentally gotten attached to them. Something she hadn’t done in decades. But, here she was. In fucking Mystic Falls. All because she felt the need to look after two teenagers who were being crushed under their own grief. Because Jeremy and Elena had somehow snuck into her heart when she wasn’t paying attention. 

She knocked back the rest of the bourbon and hummed at the burn. Lee dropped her head into her hands and groaned. It could be worse, she knew that for a fact, but at the moment everything seemed like shit. How the hell was she supposed to do her research in this back-woods town? She needed to know why she kept reincarnating. She didn’t want to wait for another life to get her answers. She wasn’t sure she could take any more of this. 

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and snapped her out of her thoughts. She frowned when she saw it was Elena. She was supposed to be at the annual back-to-school bonfire with Jeremy

“What'cha need, Elena?” She didn’t answer. Lee frowned. Elena choked out a sob. “Lena? What’s wrong?”

“There was an accident.” Elena took a deep breath while Lee’s had completely stopped. “Vicki Donovan is in the hospital.” Oh thank god, they hadn’t gotten injured. Instead, it was Jeremy’s ‘girlfriend’. She took a moment to calm her heart.

“Are you hurt? Is Jeremy alright? What happened?” She asked in a rush.

“No, I’m fine. Jeremy’s fine. We’re both a little shaken up, but fine. He wants to go to the hospital with her, but I told him not until he sobers up.” She nodded her head in agreement and then realized Elena couldn’t see her. “The police are saying it was some kind of animal attack, but I-” Elena took a deep breath. “Jeremy and I were the ones that found her.” Shit.

“Do you need me to pick you up?” She hadn’t been at the Grill for long and the bourbon she just finished was her first.

“No, Jeremy and I are getting a ride back to the house. I need you at the Grill. Caroline and Bonnie are stopping by to wait for Care to sober up.” She frowned. Lee didn’t honestly care about Caroline and Bonnie. They weren’t _her_ friends.

“Are you sure? I can come home right away if you need me to.” She didn’t know how bad Vicki was, but judging by Elena’s reaction, it hadn’t been pretty. She didn’t want to leave Elena and Jer at home after seeing that. Jenna was home, but Lee wasn’t sure if she wanted to leave this in her hands. 

“I’m sure, Lee. We’ll be fine. Please make sure that Bonnie and Caroline get home safe, okay?” Elena reassured her. She sighed and rubbed at her temples with a free hand. She would rather her sister be more concerned about herself. Elena was making a habit of throwing herself under a bus in order to make everyone else happy. Ever since the accident, she’s thought that anything bad that happens is her fault. Jeremy not doing well? Elena thinks it's her fault. Jenna is stressed? Elena's fault. She was even convinced that the accident was on her. And because she thought she was a fault for everything, she felt the need to always put other people first. Turning herself into a martyr on every occasion. Lee wasn’t having much luck in getting it into her head that everything that went wrong in the world wasn’t her fault. It was an ongoing process.

“Fine. I’m not happy about it, but fine.” Elena let out a sigh of relief and she rolled her eyes. “Text me when you guys get home. If you don’t I’ll set Sheriff Forbes on you.” She agreed before hanging up the phone.

Lee glanced around the bar and saw that it was pretty empty. She looked at the bartender, a 20-something guy, and gestured him over. If Caroline needed to sober up, then caffeine was the medicine of choice.

“What can I get you, Lee? Another Bourbon?” 

“Nah, but I’d love if you could get me two black coffees,” She smiled at him, “I’ve got some girls that’ll be here soon that are gonna be in dire need of the good stuff.” 

“I’ll start a pot.” 

She glanced at her watch, a neat little birthday gift from Grayson that had a hidden compartment with vervain. For some reason, the fact that she couldn’t stay dead meant that she couldn’t be compelled. At least, not anymore. It had some effect at the very beginning, but compulsions only stuck for a second now. Which made zero sense to her, though a witch tried to explain that it was because you can only compel one person at a time. Apparently each of her lives counted separately. The watch gave a good excuse as to why she couldn’t be compelled that wouldn’t take 30 minutes to explain. It also told the time and made her realize that she wasn’t likely to get home until at least 1 am. Yay. 

Speaking of the devil, the bar’s door jingled and they stumbled in through the door. Caroline was leaning heavily on an annoyed Bonnie, was crying, and looked hammered. They made their way into a booth and sat down. 

“Here’s the coffee,” She turned back to the bar as the bartender set two coffee mugs on the counter. Excellent timing. 

“Thanks,” She gave him a grateful smile, grabbed the mugs, and made her way to the girls.

“Hey Caroline, hey Bonnie.” Lee greeted them and was met with the sight of one very tired girl and a still sobbing one. Bonnie gestured to Caroline as if telling her to do something and she held back a snarky remark. Barely. Why the hell did she have to deal with a crying Caroline, wasn’t that Bonnie’s job? They were supposed to be best friends. She was the absent, but cool older sister of their best friend, _not_ the best friend. And this was the job for someone with those qualifications. She sat the coffee down before turning her attention to Caroline. Well, if no one else was going to step in. "Hey Caroline, what’s wrong?”

“Stefan,” She sobbed hard, “chose her! Everyone always,” another sob, “chooses her!” Caroline managed to finish her sentence before crying even harder. Great. Wonderful. This was exactly what she wanted to do tonight. However, Lee wasn’t completely heartless and was aware that under all her bluster, Caroline was insecure as hell. That’s what happens when your father abandons you and your mother cares about work more than her kid. She respected the Sheriff, but her parenting skills needed a lot of work.

“Caroline.” The serious tone caught her attention. She was pulling out her big guns, the ‘Mom’ voice. Learned at the knees of a stern Italian mother who could make you regret all of your decisions with a single look. The faster she could get Caroline to snap out of this, the faster she could leave. Her bed was calling her name. “That’s enough.” She looked up at Lee with watery blue eyes and hiccuped. “I have no clue why everyone is all over this Stefan guy and I don’t really care. What matters is that you’re crying over him when you shouldn’t be. You are Caroline Forbes. Daughter of the badass Sheriff that makes sure this town doesn’t go to shit. And here you are, crying at the Grill, because of some boy.” She let out another sob and Lee sighed.

“This is a sad display for a girl who runs her own high school. No offense to Elena, but she doesn’t do half of the shit that you accomplish like it’s nothing. I’m pretty sure you organize every event that this town has and you go to school full time. That is far more impressive than managing to snag some boy. 

“This is not the type of behavior _Caroline Forbes_ should be displaying,” She started to look confused. “You are Miss _Caroline Forbes_. Future Miss Mystic Falls, voted most likely to succeed by a landslide, first Freshman student president, top of your class, and the captain of the only Mystic Falls cheer team to ever win a competition,” Lee paused, a little shocked that she knew this much. She must pay more attention to Elena’s ramblings that she thought. 

She continued, “You are not some pathetic girl that cries over rejection, especially publically and at the fucking Grill.” Bonnie gave Lee the stink-eye over the pathetic comment, but it was her fault. She should've stepped in sooner. And it’s not like it wasn’t true. It was understandable to not take rejection well, but drunken sobbing in a bar was not a good look for the blonde. Unlike Bonnie, Caroline actually seemed to get what she was saying. Her face was doing the little thinking scrunch that she had been doing since she was 3. And it was just as adorable at 17 as it was at 3.

But, Lee wasn’t quite done yet. She turned to Bonnie and glared at her. “And you. Bonnie Bennett, I expected better of you.” Bonnie gave her an offended look, “Here you are, ignoring one of your ‘best friends’ who is currently having a drunken breakdown. What sort of shitty friend does that?” Bonnie glared. She grabbed the coffee meant for Bonnie and slide it over to Caroline. Lee patted the blonde’s shoulder before turning to Bonnie again. “And no coffee for you. Bitchiness doesn’t get rewarded when I’m paying.” she pointed to the bar, “I’ll be there if you need anything, Caroline,” She turned away from the two teens and pulled out her phone as she walked back to the bar.

She saw that Elena had texted her that she was home. ‘Bonnie was a shit friend to Caroline tonight. Give her the full Elena guilt trip. -L’. Then she tapped out a quick message to Jenna, making sure she knew about the animal attack and that the kids were safe. She could see out of the corner of her eye that a guy had taken up a seat a few stools down from her. She didn’t look up at him since she was preoccupied with putting her phone back into the tiny girl pocket on her jeans.

She paused in front of the stool still struggling to get the stupid thing in. Fucking modern women's clothing. Lee swore the pockets were bigger in the ’80s.

“You need some help with that?” An amused voice asked and she froze. That voice sounded familiar. Heartbreakingly familiar. She braced herself, sat down, and turned to face him.

He had his stupid ‘I’m sexy and I know it’ smirk on his face and it made her heartache. His hair was messier and there was a lot less gel in it since the last time she saw him. Lee was going to miss his old pompadour, but she had to admit that the messier look suited him. He was wearing a dark grey shirt with a leather jacket. It took her a moment before she realized that it was the same jacket that he had in the '50s. The sight of it made her want to roll her eyes while also making her want to cry The last time she saw him wear it, both he and the jacket had been covered in her blood. Lee had no idea how to feel about the fact he cleaned it, kept it, and wears it. She turned her attention away from his clothes and examined his face. He looked amused, but his eyes were moving over the other people in the bar. Measuring people up. Lee didn’t like the way his gaze paused on Caroline’s table.

For a second, just a second, she thought that he might recognize her. But, like every time, it wasn’t meant to be and it felt like a punch to the gut. It was pointless and ridiculous to think that it would be different this time, but she couldn’t kill the part of her that always hoped. Especially since she looked so much like she did in her first life when she had been Amelia. Her eyes were always the same shade of green, it was the only constant in her lives, but this time she had the red hair to go with it. Looking into his eyes and not seeing a trace of recognition made her realize how naive that was. Her face was completely different. She was shorter, less curvy, and her face was more on the impish side rather than the elegance that he had first loved. Like every time she met him, her hope came crashing down. And like every time, she pretended nothing was wrong and prepared to start the charade again. You would think that she’d know better by now. 

“Are you asking if I need help getting into my pants?” She asked with a crooked smirk. There was the slightest amount of surprise in his eyes and her smirk grew wider. Did he think she was going to get all flustered?

“Anything to help a lady,” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“I think I’ve got it handled,” she patted her pocket where her cellphone now sat snuggly. Lee looked him up and down, not making any effort to be discreet, “Where ya from, handsome? I haven’t seen you around here and I would’ve noticed someone so charming,” 

Damon stood up from his stool and swaggered over to the one right next to her with a smirk on his face and a glass of bourbon in hand. He slid onto the stool and leaned towards her.

“I just got in a few days ago. I came to visit my little brother Stefan.” Stefan. Of fucking course. It couldn’t have been just a random Stefan. No. It just had to be the Ripper that Lena and Caroline are all goo goo eyes for. Now she could see her nightmare fuel in person again. Bloody fan-fucking-tastic. Well, at the very least she could use this to grab Damon’s attention. When Damon talked about Stefan, unless he was very very drunk, he talked about his favorite pastime of ruining his life which meant that he was going to be predictable. Half the battle with Damon was trying to predict his chaos so you can revel in it rather than get run over with it.

“Stefan Salvatore?” She questioned with an innocent tone and Damon’s eyes narrowed. She was laughing at him in her head. He could never resist taking an obvious bait. It worked every time.

“You know him? I’m surprised, he’s sort of an introvert. A real broody type. Not socialized much as a puppy.” His tone was joking, but his eyes gave him away. He was far too intent on Lee for normal conversation. This was him working towards his plot rather than his bed. It hurt. She expected it, but her life as Rose spoiled her. It had been a few decades since she was just a pawn to him. A tool to get what he wanted

“I’ve never met him, but my sister has been hanging out with him lately,” She told him a half-truth. She technically hasn’t met Stefan yet, at least in this body.  
“Your sister is Elena?” She nodded and his smirk turned predatory.

“I didn’t know that Elena had such an attractive older sister. You’re even a redhead. I go for brunettes usually, but you never know when you need a little red in your life.” Damon told her in a husky voice and Lee’s body got very hot very fast. It was absolute bullshit that he could still make her feel this way after so many years.

“Well, I’ve never been into strange men that spend their time in bars, but I could make an exception.”

“Damon Salvatore.” He held out his hand and she put hers in his.

“Lee Gilbert,” She watched as he kissed her knuckles. She shivered at the feeling and his smirk turned smug. He opened his mouth to say something, most likely inappropriate when Caroline interrupted.

The tears on her face had dried, leaving black stains on her cheeks from mascara. She was holding her head up high and was staring at Lee with determination. Caroline seemed to have pulled herself together in record time. Lee expected her to be upset for much longer. It was impressive. She turned away from Damon and focused on Caroline.

“Thank you, Lee.” She said sincerely and looked adorably awkward while doing so. Like a little puppy. The cuteness was starting to win Lee over. She would have to start keeping an eye on the girl. Caroline had spunk most of the time and that had potential.

“It wasn't a problem. I was happy to help.” Lee paused and looked at the door where Bonnie was glaring and fidgeting with her car keys. “You headed back home?” She nodded.

“I’m sober enough to deal with my mom, so yeah.” 

“Alright, be safe on the roads,” She turned back Damon. He was staring at Caroline with a calculating look in his eyes. That wasn’t good.

“That was nice of you.” Damon droned out. He was holding up his head with a hand and he looked bored. He was entertained a few moments ago and now he was bored? His attention span seemed to be worsening with age.

“Not really. I just wanted her to stop crying. If I could get her to realize that she’s better than she thinks she is, it could reduce future fits of tears.” Lee explained while rubbing her temple with one hand. Dealing with teenagers gave her a headache and dealing with Damon made everything ache.

“That’s pretty heartless. Even I was feeling some sympathy for her.” Damon said sincerely. A tone that was utter bullshit. It took immense self-control to not roll her eyes at him.

“I guess I’m heartless then,” She said with a shrug before glancing at her watch. Bonnie and Caroline had gotten to the bar sooner and left earlier than she expected, so it was only 12:30. She wanted to go home, fall into bed, and deal with the fact that Damon was in Mystic Falls.

“So, who was Blondie?” Lee struggled to keep the frown off of her face. It could’ve been an innocent question, but this was Damon. Damon who stared at the poor girl with calculation and heard her lay out her insecurities for him to pick through. She couldn’t make an easier target if she tried.

“She’s my sister’s best friend. They were at a bonfire and someone ended up in the hospital. Elena asked me to make sure Caroline and Bonnie, the one who looked pissy, got home safe. Or at least not drunk off their asses,” She paused and considered how she would play this, “Why do you ask?”

He shrugged, “Figured I should know whose heart my brother has been breaking.” 

Lee looked down at her empty glass. She could go home and check on her traumatized siblings. She could even have a well-deserved breakdown and then sleep it off. But, she only had an inkling as to what Damon had planned for his visit. She knew he had the on-going goal of torturing Stefan. And Elena was starting to attach herself to that monster. There was also the concerning detail of who Elena looks like. Lee had been deep in denial about Lena’s resemblance to Damon’s ‘love of his life’. But, if both Damon and Stefan were in town Elena would be put in the crosshairs. Damon would probably drag Lena’s friends and family into his plans since they work as good leverage. He would drag in spunky insecure Caroline who spilled her heart where he could hear. Fuck, she didn’t have much of a choice here. 

“So, have you heard about the animal attacks that have been happening? Tonight’s the second one that’s happened.” ‘Animal attacks’ that were definitely Damon’s fault. She was going to have to wheedle her way into his plots, to his side, if she wanted to keep Elena and Jeremy safe. Which wouldn’t have been an issue, if she had more time to do it. Lee was going to have to take some risks. Like bringing up the attacks that were Damon’s meal scraps. 

“I haven’t heard anything,” He said with wide eyes, “how horrible! Did they say what animal did it?” He really should have gone into acting. 

Lee needed leverage. She needed something to get him interested enough to take the attention off of Caroline. She also needed something to bargain with. Lee had it too. She just really didn’t want to do this again. She was so sick of being a blood bag for him and she refused to be a tool again.

“They say it was a mountain lion,” Lee put a heavy dose of skepticism into her voice. 

“And what do you think?” He cocked an eyebrow and he watched her with calculation warring with amusement.

In for a penny, in for a pound. She leaned in close to him, “I think someone had a snack,” She said with a smirk.

His eyes went cold and his body tense. He looked like a predator with prey in its sight, which was accurate and inappropriately attractive. Her reaction to danger, specifically in regards to him, was getting more and more fucked up. It wasn’t this bad when she was Rose, though she did start to have more fun in life and death situations as Maria. 

“Oh?” His voice was icy.

She met his gaze and raised a brow, “A very messy eater. So messy that it makes me wonder if they know about the town’s history with people who ‘snack’.”

Damon glanced around the room, saw that no one was paying attention, and grabbed Lee’s hand in a tight grip. She clearly hadn’t fucked this up too much since he wasn’t trying to break the bones. He slipped on a fake gentleman’s smile.

“How about we get out of here?” It wasn’t a suggestion. 

Lee smiled and batted her lashes at him, “I would love to,” she made her voice as sultry as she could. She figured she would play it up as much as she could, might as well do something fun in case she gets killed. It did get an amused and bewildered expression out of him, so she was counting it as a win. 

She slid off her barstool, swung her purse over her shoulder, and held out her arm for Damon to take. Lee got a snort this time as he securely wrapped her arm in his. They walked out of the bar with wide smiles, a potential victim with their killer. She really really hoped he was curious enough to not just kill her the moment they were out of sight of witnesses. She had never been killed by him and she wasn’t sure how she would handle that. 

They took two steps outside of the bar, the door slamming behind them, and Damon whooshed them into the alley. He slammed her against a brick wall and held her in place with a hand around her throat. 

“You do realize that I’m going to kill you, right?” Both of his eyebrows were raised in a bemused expression.

Lee looked straight into his eyes and smiled, “You could, but then you will never get to know all sorts of fascinating things,”

He glared, “I am going to kill you, you’re an idiot if you think otherwise.” He tightened his hand, but she could still breathe. 

“How about we make a deal instead?” He stared at Lee, “You can always kill me after I talk.” She shrugged. “You could take your hand away from my throat and I’ll get into your car like I’m 6 and you have candy. You can take me to your evil liar and paint the walls red, but let me convince you first. If you still want to kill me by the end of the drive, you have an easier time getting rid of my body.” 

He looked at her in consideration. No doubt weighing the value between satisfying his curiosity and just killing her outright. 

“I don’t suppose you’re not on vervain?”

“Sorry,” Lee did not look sorry. 

A few minutes passed like sludge. Damon’s hand at her throat, weighing the options.

“I’m more use to you alive than dead,” She added, hoping to tip the scale in her favor. He stared for another second before rolling his eyes.

“I doubt that,” But, there was still curiosity in his eyes, “But, you seem entertaining. Like watching a zookeeper put their head in an alligator’s mouth. If you do anything that I don’t like, I’m snapping your neck.” She nodded. He moved his hand away from Lee’s neck and smiled charmingly. As if he hadn’t given her a death threat a second ago. Good old fashioned Damon. He gestured towards the blue Camaro that was in the parking lot. “Your chariot awaits.” ****  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty, so some basic info. Plot and canon events are going to be changed because it drives me crazy when an OC doesn't have any influence on the plot. One person's actions or even presence can change a ton of shit. All the nonsense after Klaus's main stint as villain on the show is probably gonna be tossed aside. This means no Silas, no miracle vampire children, and no Hope.  
> I'm also making Jenna younger, 25 instead of 30. I could give you a good explanation as to why, but mostly I just want her closer in age to Lee.  
> Uh, don't expect Damon to have a redemption arch. He's an asshole. He's a vampire. He's not suddenly going to go good and be all sunshine and rainbows. Vampires are going to vampires in this, morally grey. There's going to be the same amount of violence as canon.  
> Let me know if the formatting on this got messed up, I'm not that familiar with AO3 in terms of actually writing and not plowing through fanfic like it's my job. Give me feedback if ya like and kudos are greatly appreciated.  
> Thank ya'll for reading and I hope it was to your taste!


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